SPOILERS FOR COBRA KAI SEASON 4

“First Learn Stand”

Episode two brought us an important thing… somebody new for Cobra Kai. Inside the dojo led by John Kreese, we have basically two main characters, Robby and Tory, but the rest are no name red shirts. They needed some more interesting characters to fill out the ranks of the opposition or nobody is going to believe that Cobra Kai has a chance against our heroes.

So we get the introduction of the new kid at school, Kenny. And what sends him to the dark side? Why it is Anthony LaRusso, Daniel’s own little bully of a son. Placing Anthony squarely in the Johnny Lawrence role of tormenting bully is some awesome storytelling that I hope carries out throughout the season. The show sets up Kenny as being extremely likable and relatable and then ties him to the prisoner that Robby fought with in season 3.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Johnny are teaching each other their respective brand of karate in hopes of creating a better understanding of the other’s philosophy. Daniel makes Johnny do the iconic “wax-on, wax-of” and “paint the fence” routines while Johnny takes Daniel to a warehouse and eventually a hockey game.

Johnny manipulates one of the hockey players into attacking Daniel so Daniel could learn to be more aggressive. It was funny cause all I was thinking about when that hockey player was taunting Daniel, was that Daniel was going to kick his ass.

Season 4 is setting up conflicts that I assume will be paying off in the future. The one between Tory and Amanda, Daniel’s wife, is fascinating and I hope it bears fruit. Maybe honeycrisp.